Make or Break the Hero (The Hunter Legacy Book 4) (18 page)

"No problems sir."

"Good luck to you then."

We shook hands. He widened his gaze to take
in the pilots around me.

"To all of you," he went on.
"You did the impossible here, and when you return, your actions will be
recognized officially."

He turned back to me.

"And this time, Admiral, you won't be
avoiding a public ceremony!"

Everyone laughed at my sudden discomfort.
The last time the Australian Militia had given me a medal, I'd been so deep in
shock and loss, General Harriman had made the awards in his office.

"We look forward to that
General," I said deadpan.

Everyone laughed again.

The General and his aide left, and we did
also.

I led the pilots to BigMother's main cargo
airlock, Jeeves and Jane bringing up the rear. I was limping badly by this
time, and ready for another visit to a Medical Bay. At the top of the ramp, I
stopped.

"Welcome to BigMother," I said.

"Seriously?" asked Annette.

"Seriously. The owner of Sydney
Shipyard, who did the refit before she was prematurely pressed into service,
renamed her as a joke. Her previous name was Junk Heap One."

They all laughed.

We looked into the ship. Unlike the other
ships I had, we couldn’t see the end of the Cargo Bay from here. It seemed to
go on forever, and at this end, it was completely empty. For a moment, I was
daunted by the mere fact of entering such a ship, let alone it being mine.

"Jeeves, we'll need a Doorman butler
droid please. And you should move some cargo droids down here so they're handy
for the lock."

"Yes my Lord."

The others chuckled. They'd heard this a
couple of times already, but it was still funny for them.

"Umm, Jane?"

"Yes?"

"Do we have to walk the whole way in?"

The pilots all cracked up.

I looked at Jane, with eyebrows raised.

"You didn't ask," she said.

The pilots just about fell over at this.

"I'm asking."

"Confirmed."

We stood there waiting, the mirth slowly
subsiding, as I pointed out if I had to walk, so did they.

In the distance appeared some sort of
vehicle, travelling very fast. It pulled up in front of us. On the front was a
driver position, and behind, two rows of seats capable of moving twenty people.

"Where was this?" I asked.

"Near the quick access shaft for the
right side launch tubes. Presumably to move pilots to ships quickly."

"How many are there?"

"Two this size, six for six people,
and six for two people."

"Does the station have any of
these?"

"Yes. Several dozen in various
configurations. Mainly used for VIP's, and emergency situations."

"So all this time I've been limping
around the place, I could have been riding?"

"Yes."

More laughter. I sighed.

"Now you tell me."

"You didn’t ask."

"Leave the station one six person…
what do you call these things anyway?"

"Trolley."

"Leave the station one six person
trolley, and all but two of the emergency medical ones, which I assume have
room for patients to be lying down," she nodded, "and bring the rest
on board. Have Janet requisition some new ones for the station from Bob."

"Confirmed."

"Jeeves, I want mixed sizes of
trolleys available here all the time. And at the quick access shafts and
stairwells on each level, where any travel distance is involved. Also at the other
airlocks." There were now five. "If we need more, remind me when we
arrive somewhere we can buy them. You might want to task a butler to just
making sure they're waiting for people who are about to need one."

"Yes my Lord."

"If you're all quite through laughing,
let's be moving."

We climbed on board, Jane taking the
driver's seat. The trolley set off at an alarming speed, and within minutes we
were near the back end of the ship. Along the way, as the ship grew wider,
there were large cargo bays off the central wide corridor. The further we went,
the more of these had containers and pallets in them.

We all got off, next to a stairwell, and
what I assumed was a quick access shaft.

I looked into the shaft. It was well lit,
and I could see all the way up. It was just an empty space. They looked new,
and I didn’t remember them being here when I'd first taken the ship. Bob must
have added them. If so, I'd have to thank him.

"How does this work Jane? I really
don’t want to limp up all those stairs."

"There are two shafts. This one is up,
the other is for down. They work both ways, but having two means you don’t get
collisions part way. You stand inside the shaft, near one of the corners is
best, as there are more rails there. You push off with your knees, and you'll
float upwards at the speed you push off at. When you reach the level you want,
you grab hold of one of the rails, and pull yourself out. Just mind the gravity
change. Like this."

She stepped inside, and the seven of us
looked in to see what she did. She bent her knees, and straightened. She soared
upwards. Near the top, she grabbed a rail, and pulled herself out.

"Who's first?" I asked.

"Me," said Annette.

I waved her in.

She bent her knees, and gave a good solid
push off. She rose like a rocket, and where we'd seen Jane go out, she grabbed
a rail, and flew out the exit.

There was shriek of delight from above.

"Watch out below!" came from
above.

Annette jumped back into the shaft, and
came sailing down, landing lightly, bending her knees again, and sailing
straight back up.

Lacey was in the shaft before she reached
the top, and took off after her. The others followed.

Pilots, I thought, with a sigh.

I stepped in myself, checked there was
no-one above, bent my knees, the left one of which objected, and straightened
gently. I slowly rose up the shaft until I came to a level marked Bridge, where
I grabbed a rail and stopped myself. I stood there in midair, grasping the
rail, before stepping out. The shift back to gravity nearly had me falling
down, as my left leg objected to the transition.

They were all standing there grinning. I
ignored them, and went to the cat wall around the entrance to the shaft. I
stepped over it carefully.

"Cat wall," I said to the unasked
question. "I have a ten and half week old kitten. This is to stop her wandering
into the shaft by accident.

"Where is Angel?" asked Annette.

"Captain's suite," answered Jane.
"Jeeves moved her, and all her things up here, as soon as Gunbus docked,
and the ship was safe for people."

I headed toward the Bridge at a brisk limp.
The others followed.

The Bridge looked nothing like it had used
to. It was the same basic layout as Custer had, but it also had the look of the
station CCC. The helm position was still in the center of the front console.
There was more space between it and the seats on either side than I'd seen on
any other Bridge. Angel's ramp was in position. I turned the front console off.

The Captain's chair was well behind the
helm position, and had the now usual pilot layout, allowing me to fly the ship
from there.

To the left and forward was the XO's chair,
with its own console. To the right and forward was the coms station, also with
its own console.

Behind, were two groups of three chairs, as
if set up for an Admiral and staff, or for VIP'S to observe.

"Impressive," said Lacey, and the
others agreed.

I took my place in my new command chair.

Jane went to the position to the left of
the helm, and plugged herself into the data port. Her suit immediately changed
into a representation of the Carrier, standing on its engines.

"What the hell?" said a British
accent behind me.

We all laughed. Jane stayed that way for a
full minute, before resuming her Jane shape.

"Assimilation complete," she
announced.

My HUD came up on the view screen, causing
some consternation from all of them. They hadn't seen one show the level of
detail mine did.

"Can I have a copy of your HUD
sir?" asked Lacey.

"Me too," said Annette.

The rest all nodded agreement.

"I've not distributed it yet, because
it's been under development. When I get some free time, I'll see if there's
anything else I want to add to it, and if not, I'll see about getting it on
your ships. It uses feeds from the three Guilds, so you need to be members of
all of them to get all the data. If you all join the Bounty Hunters Guild, that
will make two of the three feeds, and most of the useful data they provide.
Umm. How many of you have the big ship captain certification?"

They all raised hands.

"Well that’s just as well for those of
you flying Corvettes recently. I'd suggest you find out if you can also join
the Traders Guild based on having big ship captain. Actually, forget that,
apply for membership anyway, on the basis you are contracted to Hunter Security
and may be required at times to undertake Trader duties. My Corvettes all have
large Cargo Bays, so can be used as a trader if need be. You're all employed to
Trader Guild specifications anyway, so they shouldn’t object. Once you've
membership, which will have to wait until we get somewhere with functional
Guilds, you need to buy each of their standard HUD overlays, which gives you
the feeds. When you've the feeds, my HUD overlay will use them. It also keeps
track of missions for you. So if you take a bounty mission on someone, the HUD
will highlight it for you when you find them. I also get Militia, and local
Space Force data, which you won't be able to get as Mercenaries."

"You wrote this?" asked Annette.

"Yes. I'm rated Systems Specialist."

They looked impressed. Very few pilots ever
took any specialty levels, concentrating on flying and combat skills.

"Janet," I said. "Are we
free to depart?"

"Yes my Lord. Everything you requested
is on board."

"Button us up Jane, and let's be
moving."

"Confirmed."

We watched as the Carrier moved slowly away
from the station, stopped, spun on her axis, and headed for the jump point.

A channel opened from the station.

"Kick some arse BigMother!" It
sounded like the General.

"We will. Keep the lights on, we'll be
back."

The channel closed, and BigMother jumped
into Cobol.

I turned to the pilots.

"There's good news and bad news."

"Good news first," said Lacey.

"The accommodation is the next deck
down. Choose a place to sleep. If you see a kitten or a kitty castle, that’s my
place. The next biggest five are reserved for flag officers, and we'll have
some coming on board at Cobol. There'll be names on some of the rest already,
for my Mercenary Team. Otherwise, take your pick."

"What's the bad news?" asked
Annette.

"The Centurions, Excalibur, and
Unthinkable, are down on the Flight Deck. The Camels are docked to external
airlocks down on the Cargo Deck, towards the rear of the ship. I'm afraid you'll
need to take a walk, or trolley ride, to retrieve your stuff."

They collectively groaned. I couldn’t stop
myself grinning. I wondered if any of them would think to just ask a butler to
do it for them. My grin widened, and I ended up wincing.

"We're two and a half hours to Cobol.
Be back on the Bridge before we get there. Your quarters all have full
entertainment systems, so you can view ships systems, and the view screen, from
there if you want."

"Will we be needed there?" asked
Annette.

"I doubt it, but anything's possible.
I haven't had an update since I left, but there wasn’t any opposition left at
that time. I'm assuming no news is good news. In which case, as soon as we
confirm it, we can all get some shuteye."

They nodded and left.

I limped down the staircase, and found my
quarters were mere steps away. I went in and found Angel asleep on the top of her
kitty castle.

I had a quick look around. Everything was
bigger than Custer, and I'd felt a bit like I was rattling around in my suite
there. My civvies had followed me again. I wondered when I’d get to wear them
again.

I wasn’t at all sure the team would adapt
to the suites they would each get, since they were accustomed to living
communally. They almost had the same space each now, as they'd previously had
all together.

"Jeeves, can you bring me another pain
shot please."

"On my way, my Lord," came from
the ship coms.

I sat down in a very comfortable lounge
chair. Angel woke, stretched, and raced down her kitty castle, across the
floor, and up the ramp next to the chair, ending up on my lap. I patted her,
and asked her if she liked her new home. She purred.

Jeeves came in and administered the shot,
making me feel a lot better.